Perceived Importance of Social Skills

The importance of social skills instruction within the curriculum has long been recognized and discussed in the literature. The implementation of this area of instruction has been sporadic over the years, and reasons for this have been hypothesized by both researchers and teacher trainers. This study investigated the importance ratings and rankings of social skills by 263 parents, teachers, and other professionals from around the country. Personal interviews with teachers were conducted and Individualized Education Program documents were inspected in an effort to relate perceptions of importance to actual implementation of social skills instruction. Barriers to implementation also were recorded and analyzed. The results and recommended directions for future research are discussed.